On “ambition” vs “courage”, I like to think that every personality trait has a quiet & a loud version. Prudence is quiet, anxiety is loud, courage is quiet, foolhardiness is loud, etc.
For me, ambition is the quiet one, and selfishness is it’s “loud” counterpart. You cannot live without both (as they’re inside you, there’s no permanent escape), but the loud traits are often much easier to “cave-in to”, and the quiet ones easier to ignore.
You need the loud ones to stand up for yourself (sometimes), but listening to the loud ones while you’re alone is (almost) always dangerous. That’s helped me make sense of my intrusive thoughts, separating them from the quiet & sincere “but I think I really can do this” thoughts.
On “ambition” vs “courage”, I like to think that every personality trait has a quiet & a loud version. Prudence is quiet, anxiety is loud, courage is quiet, foolhardiness is loud, etc.
For me, ambition is the quiet one, and selfishness is it’s “loud” counterpart. You cannot live without both (as they’re inside you, there’s no permanent escape), but the loud traits are often much easier to “cave-in to”, and the quiet ones easier to ignore.
You need the loud ones to stand up for yourself (sometimes), but listening to the loud ones while you’re alone is (almost) always dangerous. That’s helped me make sense of my intrusive thoughts, separating them from the quiet & sincere “but I think I really can do this” thoughts.